FORGET playing the field - young men want to settle down, claims recent research by dating site eHarmony.

Today's male is ready for a committed relationship at 22, two years younger than a decade ago.

The survey found men are also moving in to live with their partner at 25.

GARETH TURNER, 24

GARETH, from Glasgow, is a security guard and lives with Jennifer Gilgannon, 23, a sales assistant. They have a six-month-old daughter called Ava.

He is relieved that he’s happy with his girlfriend and daughter.

The 24-year-old said: “I was 22 when I met Jennifer. She was 20.

“I’m just lucky that I met the right girl when I did and I’m so happy to be settled down at my age with a daughter.

“I don’t envy my single friends at all. Most guys my age want to go out every weekend to clubs and pubs and don’t want to stay with the same girl for very long.

“When we met, Jennifer was working on a beauty counter in the same store where I’m a security guard.

“One day I was chatting to one of the other girls at the counter when Jennifer joined in.

“That night I messaged her on Facebook and that was how it all started.

“I never had any doubts about settling down so early, I was never a party animal anyway.

“I used to work every Friday and Saturday night and I’d done that since I was 19, so I didn’t feel like I’d be missing out on nights out with the boys.

“It was actually Jennifer who was out with her friends every weekend and wasn’t thinking of settling down.

“Once you have kids, though, your whole perspective changes and now we both think our lives have changed for the better. We want more kids in the future.

“Within weeks of meeting Jennifer, I gave up working on the doors so that we could spend our weekends together.

“After three months we’d moved in together. It was really intense from the start.

“We just got on great and, even when we started living together, we didn’t argue.

“It was a bit of a shock to the system for me to actually do anything for myself because I’d been a bit spoiled before but we worked it out.

“Marriage is definitely something we want to do in the future.

“It doesn’t matter what age you are, it’s meeting the right person that’s the important thing.

“If I hadn’t met the right person, I would still be working every weekend. Now, we spend all our time together with Ava and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I always wanted to be a young dad.

“I’m the oldest of my two brothers and two sisters so I suppose I’ve always been the responsible one.

“My mum had me when she was 18 and my brother just 11 months later, so maybe that’s something to do with why I wanted to be a young parent, too.

“It was about a year-and- a-half after we got together when Jennifer got pregnant.

“When we first told people that she was pregnant, some of my mates and my family would make a joke about it saying, ‘Oh, your life’s over now’.

“But I know they were only joking. They are all really happy for us.

“I think the survey that says men are most ready to settle down at 22 is surprising, judging by my mates, who are mostly single.”

JIM WALKER, 52

Jim Walker, 52, is a security guard from Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow.

He has been married to Alison, 52, a territory manager, for more than 30 years.

He thinks times have changed from when they got together.

Jim said: “I met Alison at 16, when we’d just left school, and we married at 21. We were engaged for two years before we married, so we’d plenty time to get to know one another properly.

“At that time, living together was really frowned upon. And nobody did.

Jim and Alison Walker on their big day 30 years ago (Image: Paul Chappells/Daily Record)

“Now, at 21, most people are still studying, but then it was common to leave school and start working straight away. So, in a way, we were more independent and mature.

“Alison had finished her nursing training and I’d been working for five years and already had a mortgage, so I think we were more ready for commitment than 21-year-olds are these days.

“I think 22, as the age when men want to settle down, seems young. Young people now seem to have so many more opportunities to travel, or work abroad, and I think most want to see a bit of the world before they settle down.

“We did the opposite. We got married young and now that our three kids – Alan, Steven and Ainslie – are in their 20s, we can do what we want.

“For our 30th anniversary last year we went to the Maldives. And in the last couple of years we’ve been to Cuba, Sweden, Monte Carlo, Sorrento and the Dominican Republic.

Jim and Alison Walker first met when they were 16 (Image: Paul Chappells/Daily Record)

“It was great being a young dad, because I had the energy to play with the kids. And I could relate to them more on things like music, because I was young myself.

“I was never bothered about not going on nights out or anything, I just didn’t feel I was missing anything.

“We never really went out without each other, if you were married you always went places together. Now it’s a bit different and married couples have separate nights out.

“If my sons had wanted to get married at 21, I might have had doubts. But it’s all about who you are getting married to, not when.

“Looking back, I don’t even think we were too young. All that matters is that it’s the right person.”